He was probably hoping for a different end to the match, but this one will still remain the greatest feat of his career. This Thursday, at just 20 years old, Arthur Fils offered himself the third Top 10 of his career: the Pole Hubert Hurkacz. And he achieved this feat in the temple of tennis, the All England Club in London, in the second round of Wimbledon. Offensive, confident and almost furious, the Frenchman made the world number 7 suffer for a long time, who finally gave up in the tie-break of the 4th set, injured (7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-6 ab.).
Solidity. This was probably Arthur Fils’ watchword this Thursday. Aware that he had a chance to create the feat, even if the Pole and his powerful serve were inevitably favorites in this second round, the world number 34 perfectly managed the crucial moments. In particular, he wiped out two very dangerous break points in the first set, before achieving a perfect tie-break.
Facing Machac or Safiullin in the third round
The second set was more contested, with a quick break for Arthur Fils, who was unbroken as he was about to conclude. However, he immediately recovered and took back his opponent’s serve to lead two sets to nothing. Hubert Hurkacz is not ranked 7th in the world for nothing, and proved it. More consistent on the return of serve, the Pole gave himself two breaks and the hope of a third round.
The fourth set continued in the same direction until the Frenchman rebelled. Screaming his rage with each point won, the member of the French Olympic team broke back at the best of times, at 4-5, before heading to the tie-break. This was decisive. While the Pole offered himself a new set point, Arthur Fils benefited from a first match point. At 7-7 all, a Dantesque point forced Hubert Hurkacz to attempt a desperate dive on the volley.
And he scored the point! However, he seriously injured his knee on the same exchange, and had to be treated for a long time on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Arthur Fils tried to stay warm by making a few serves. It was a good move for him, as he took advantage of his first serve to avoid the set point, then offered himself a new match point. However, he never had to play it, as Hurkacz threw in the towel. Thanks to this success, Arthur Fils will face Roman Safiullin or Tomas Machac in the third round.
